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Wills, Powers of Attorney and Probate

At Holdens we aim to ensure the smooth transfer of wealth from one generation to the next and to safeguard your financial security. We can quickly cater for your individual needs providing sensitive and thorough legal advice on a wide range of matters including:

Summary
Making a Will
Inheritance Tax Planning
Probate & Estate Administration
Probate Process
Understanding Fees
Living Wills
Family Trusts & Asset Protection
Powers of Attorney
Court of Protection
Planning for Long Term Care

Holdens are experts in these complex areas of law and we offer straightforward and easy to understand advice.

We offer fixed fee services for Wills, Lasting Powers of Attorney and obtaining the Grant of Probate.

Please feel free to call us for a chat to see if we can help you on 01524 32484 or contact us online.

Lasting Powers of Attorney

By making a Lasting Power of Attorney you decide what would happen if you could not make decisions for yourself or if you became physically frail and needed support managing your affairs.

A Lasting Power of Attorney is a legal document that allows you to appoint another person or persons to make decisions on your behalf. They are called your 'Attorney(s)'.

There are two types of Lasting Powers of Attorney:

A Property and Financial Affairs Lasting Powers of Attorney - this enables your attorneys to make decisions on your behalf in relation to your financial affairs and your property
A Health and Welfare Lasting Powers of Attorney - this enables your attorneys to make decisions about social care issues and medical treatment, including life sustaining treatment. This type of power of attorney can only be used when you no longer have capacity to make those decisions for yourself.

You do not have to appoint the same people on both Lasting Powers of Attorneys.

What does making a Lasting Power of Attorney involve?

Step One

Once you have decided which Power of Attorney is appropriate for your needs you should choose your Attorneys. It is important to choose someone you trust. It could be a family member, friend or a professional, such as your solicitor. If you choose more than one Attorney they can be appointed to work together jointly on all matters or have the authority to act individually (joint and severally). Any Attorney you appoint is under a duty to act in your best interests.

Step Two

You should consider whether you would like to impose any restrictions on what your Attorney can do or to include any guidance for your Attorneys. Examples of this may be restricting the assets your Attorneys can deal with or specifying that your Lasting Powers of Attorneys can only be used once you have lost capacity, again our Solicitors can advise you further on this.

Step Three

You will need a 'Certificate Provider' who will sign your Lasting Power of Attorney and state that they are satisfied that they believe you understand the document and that you are not under any under pressure to make a Lasting Power of Attorney. Where appropriate we can act as certificate provider. Alternatively, if your mental capacity is in question it may be wise to ask your doctor to give the certificate.

Step Four

A Lasting Power of Attorney cannot be used until it has been registered at the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG). We usually recommend applying to register the document immediately, even if you do not intend your Attorneys to use it straight away. We can deal with the registration for you. There is a fee charged by the OPG.

Holdens will store your Lasting Power of Attorney free of charge until such time as you may need it.

You can revoke your Lasting Power of Attorney at any time whilst you still have capacity.

If you lose the ability to make decisions for yourself and have no Lasting Power of Attorney in place then a Deputy would need to be appointed by the Court of Protection to make decisions on your behalf and this may not be the person you would have chosen.

There is an application fee payable to the OPG for each Lasting Power.

For a consultation with a specialist Wills, Probate, Tax or Trusts Lawyer please call Holdens on 01524 32484 or contact us online.

Making a Will

A Will is a legal document which sets out the people responsible for dealing with your estate after your death and specifies the people or organisations you wish to benefit from your estate. Important considerations when making a Will are: Appointment of Executors who are the people ...

Inheritance Tax Planning

Inheritance Tax is a tax that is levied by the government when wealth is gifted either during your lifetime or on your death. The current Inheritance Tax threshold is £325,000, and this allowance is known as the Nil Rate Band. If the total value of your financial assets is more than the ...

Probate & Estate Administration

Probate is the word used to describe the legal process for deciding if a person’s Will has been made correctly. The Grant of Probate is a one-page court document which confirms the authority of the executors named in the Will. We can take the burden off family members in dealing with the ...

Probate Process

Once a death has been registered and the funeral is being organised (or has been held), it will be time for the estate administration to begin. Broadly speaking there are four stages in administering an estate: - 1. Gathering the relevant information about the deceased and their assets and ...

Understanding Fees

In addition to the cost of our legal advice and support for administering the estate, there will be a number of additional costs which have to be paid at the same time, and which your solicitor is obliged to collect. This guide explains our fees and these additional costs (known as ...

Living Wills

A Living Will is a term used for an Advanced Decision. It is a written statement setting out your wishes in relation to medical treatment should you become terminally ill or incapacitated. A Living Will does not give someone the right to receive treatment preserving their life nor the right to ...

Family Trusts & Asset Protection

Many people in the UK are concerned about whether their financial assets will pass on to their loved ones after they die. By planning ahead and taking steps sooner rather than later, you can enable the transfer of assets to run smoothly from one generation to the next and preserve family ...